Summer with Father
by ScarletHyena
Summary: Hollow Ataraxia-esque AU where Mordred stays at his father's house for the summer, thus giving him a chance to finally kindle a new relationship with Artoria. Who knows what the rest of summer has in store for the Pendragon family?
1. Chapter 1

I actually started writing this last summer, but then abandoned it. I rediscovered it a few weeks ago, and have since completed and refined it (which is why I'm posting a fic about summer in the middle of spring). Anyway, I have some ideas for future chapters but I'm not sure how far I'll go with this just yet. I'll have to see how things work out, I guess.

* * *

Artoria watched tv, nervously twiddling her thumbs. "I feel like he should be here by now…" She thought. Her son Mordred would be staying with her for the summer, and was set to arrive that day. Morgan told her that Mordred would arrive around lunch, and now it was 12:30.

She'd already cleaned the house and set up the guest room, so now all she could do was wait. She was a bit nervous, as this would be the first time she'd be meeting Mordred in person. She was hoping this would be a chance to finally get to know her son, but she had doubts. What would Mordred be like? Would she be able to make a good impression? Could she be a good father to him? In an attempt to ease the tension, she'd decided to turn on the tv. After some channel flipping, she found an animated show about a German girl and her tiger going on adventures. The show was strange enough to hold her attention, so she just left it on there. Despite the distraction, things still lingered in her mind like a thorn in her side that wouldn't go away.

Then, the doorbell rang. "That must be him."

She turned the tv off and walked over to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by the sight of Mordred standing in the doorway. Artoria had only seen pictures of him up until now, so it was a bit odd seeing him in person. The boy was wearing a white tee-shirt under a red jacket, along with denim shorts. His luggage consisted of a backpack and two suitcases.

"Ah, welcome Mordred." Artoria greeted, keeping a cool front.

Mordred smiled, "Hey, dad! Glad to finally meet you!" He set his luggage aside and hugged Artoria. She was caught off guard by the sudden embrace but what surprised her even more was Mordreds tight grip. "He's strong…!" Artoria thought as she hugged back. "He's taken after me…I was quite strong at his age as well."

Grabbing Artoria by the waist, Mordred suddenly lifted his father off the ground. "Hah! I knew you were small enough to carry!" He laughed.

Artoria was struggling to keep calm and this was not helping. "First of all, we're the same height so you are not in a position to call me 'small'!" She huffed. "Second, please put me down!"

"Bah, you're no fun!" As soon as her feet touched the ground, Artoria wasted no time to pick her son up in the same manner. She struggled to do so, but still managed it.

"I'm a bit rusty" She said "but I've still been able to retain some of my strength."

"Hey, not bad! After I unpack, how about an arm wrestling match! What do ya say?"

Artoria simply chuckled and responded, "I'll consider it" before setting her son down.

Helping Mordred carry his suitcases upstairs, Artoria showed him to the guest room. "This will be your room for the summer." She said, gesturing to the newly cleaned and meticulously organized room. After they set the luggage next to the bed, Artoria asked Mordred if he was hungry.

Mordred looked up from his backpack. "Yeah, haven't anything since breakfast. What'd you have in mind?"

"Well, to celebrate your safe arrival I thought I'd take you out to lunch. There's a new restaurant in town I've been meaning to try out. I believe it is called Kotomine Mapo or something like that."

"A mapo place, huh?"

"Yes. I do not know anything about it but someone at work said it was good."

"Sounds fine to me!" He stood up and stretched "Let's get going. I'm starving!"

The father and son ventured out into the hot summer day, the sun shining brightly above them. Since there was no school, there were quite a few children running along the hot sidewalks and crying with laughter. Several kids flew past them on their bikes, looking like brightly-colored blurs.

Mordred's phone suddenly chimed, his text alert apparently sounding like a sword being unsheathed. Checking his messages, he laughed. "Fucking hell!"

Artoria turned to him, appalled. "Watch your language!"

Her son paused a moment, somewhat surprised by her reaction. Correcting himself, he responded. "Fucking heck?"

"No! That's not…never mind. What kind of text did you get? It must be interesting if you felt the need to use such rude language."

"It's from Fran, a friend at school. Some ass has been picking on her recently and today she finally decided to strike back. And man, did she beat the shit out of him! She sent a picture, look at this guy! He didn't stand a chance!" Mordred showed the image to his father and she immediately grabbed his phone to have a better look. The picture showed a man with a bloodied face sitting on the ground with his back against a wall. In front of him, was a red-haired girl with a blank expression giving the camera a peace sign. As she handed the phone back, Artoria felt a degree of satisfaction in seeing the physical strength of the new generation.

Still, something else bothered her. She turned to Mordred. "You really need to watch that mouth of yours."

"Why?"

"Kids your age shouldn't use such rude language. It's just not appropriate. Does Morgan ever say anything about that stuff?"

"You mean mom? Where the hell do you think I first learned these words?"

Artoria blinked in surprise "I…see…"

Mordreds phone chimed and he looked at it again. "Also, Astolfo says hi. He's the one who took the picture apparently." His phone buzzed yet again. "Oh! He sent another picture!"

He showed Artoria the new photo. Fran was still there, a little smile on her face. Next to her, was a boy with long pink hair that had a little black bow in it. He had his arm around Fran, and was winking as he gave the camera a big smile.

"That's a boy?" Artoria asked, surprised.

Mordred nodded. "Yeah he's a boy, no doubt about that. He can pull off a skirt well though; better than I can, anyway."

"You have…very unusual friends."

"I guess you could say that, but we ride and die together!"

Their conversation began to drop off as they entered the shopping district. It had a variety of different stores, but a decent selection of restaurants had been setup there as well. They walked past the various shops which were bustling with activity. As they walked past the florist, they heard someone call out to them.

The pair turned their attention to the florist, and saw a tall blue-haired man standing amongst the selection of flowers. Walking up to them, he gestured to Mordred. "Who's this with ye, Artoria?" He asked. "Looks like yer kid or somethin'!"

"That's because he is my kid." Artoria answered. "He is visiting me for the summer."

"I didn't know ye had a son! Who did ya feck?"

Artoria started to blush. "That's…that's none of your business!"

Cu laughed. "It's fine if ye don't wanna answer, I was just messin' with ye a little."

"And who are you?" Mordred asked, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I'm no one special." Cu answered, giving the boy a wink. "Just an Irishman tryin' te make a living in this country." He looked back at Artoria. "So, where are ye going on this muggy day?"

"I am taking my son out to lunch. We are going to a place called Kotomine Mapo, have you heard of it?"

Cu's smile disappeared. "Aye, unfortunately I have." He said, his tone suddenly getting more serious. "Used to work with the guy who owns the shop, but I haven't talked to him in donkey's years. He's not a full shilling if you know what I mean, so I'm a bit skeptical of te whole show. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend eating there but I'm not going te stop ye."

"Uhm…should we not go then?" Artoria asked, looking to Mordred.

"Bah, I'm sure it's fine!" Mordred said, apparently undeterred by Cu's words.

"If you say so…" Artoria waved to Cu as they left.

Cu waved back "Don't say I didn't warn ye!" He called out.

After several more minutes of walking, they reached the restaurant. "Kotomine Mapo" the sign said. Heading into the building, they were greeted by something akin to a ramen shop. It was small, only having a bar and some tables lining the wall. Standing behind the counter, was the chef and presumed shop owner. He was a tall, intimidating man wearing a golden cross necklace over his apron. They sat down at the bar and the chef handed them their menus. On them was only one item: mapo tofu.

Mordred leaned over. "Why does this guy even have a menu if he only makes one thing?"

"I'm not sure, but at the very least this means that we won't any trouble deciding what to order."

The shop owner spoke, his voice monotone and impeccably base. "What will you be having today?"

Artoria raised an eyebrow. "There's only one option…so…"

"Mapo tofu it is, then! I'll begin preparations."

As the chef went to work, there arose an awkward silence between the father and son. "So…uh…" Mordred started, hoping to break the ice "how's work?"

"It's fine," Artoria answered "not much of note has happened recently. I suppose I could go on about all the details of my company's current situation," she chuckled "but I don't think you'd want to listen to me ramble about that. Instead, I'm more interested to hear about what you've been doing. What sorts of things do you enjoy in school?"

"Well, most of the classes are a bore; I just barely passed this year. The only thing I really enjoy are the athletics, and I'm especially good at kendo." He gave his father a prideful smile. "I'm the club's ace!"

"Oh really? I was in the kendo club as well. I'd say I was quite good at it in my prime."

"That's a modest way of saying you won the national championship!" He slapped her on the back. "You were a legend!"

Artoria blinked in surprise. "Uhm…how do you know about that?"

"The club still has a picture of you and your team hanging on the wall. The couch told me all about it." He crossed his arms, puffing with pride. "But just you wait, I have every intention of surpassing you!"

Artoria gave her son a smile. "That would make me very proud." She reached out and patted his head. "Oh, but I'll always be proud of you no matter what you do." She was still new to this whole parenting thing, so she was a bit awkward about it.

"O-Oh," Mordred blushed a little, caught off guard by the sudden show of affection. "Right…of course."

"I must say though," Artoria continued. "I am a bit surprised that they still have pictures of me laying around. I wonder if Taiga…" She shook her head. "Never mind. That aside, what else do you like?"

"Well…" He thought about it for a second. "I guess I'd also like to try surfing some time. I've never surfed before, but it looks fun!"

"You might be able to try it this summer, then. Since we're close to a beach and all."

"Oh, for sure. No way I'm going the whole summer without visiting the beach at least once!"

Finally, the chef offered up two steaming bowls of mapo tofu. "Enjoy your meal." He announced. They both began to drool as they looked at the dishes, and the two wasted no time to begin eating.

Artoria took one bite of the mapo and almost immediately regretted it. It was ridiculously spicy, more so than any mapo she'd had before. The cook had clearly gone overboard with the spices and peppers. She looked to the chef. "Excuse me, but does this come in a milder form?"

The chef looked at her with a gaze that could kill and answered with an emphatic "no". Artoria sighed and reluctantly continued eating. After a few more bites, she ultimately decided that she wasn't hungry enough to endure the fiery dish and set her spoon aside.

She looked over to Mordred to see how he was holding up. She was taken aback, as her son didn't seem deterred by the spiciness at all. He stuffed his face with it, sweating and breathing heavily. He only occasionally stopped to take a swig of water.

"Are you sure it's wise to eat that so quickly?" She asked, legitimately concerned for her son's wellbeing.

"Probably not," He answered, looking up from bowl of lava "but I'm hungry and I like a challenge! I won't let this tofu defeat me!"

"At the rate you're eating, you'll burn your mouth!"

"I'll burn that bridge when I get to it!"

The chef laughed. "Your enjoyment for this is almost as great as my own!"

Artoria snapped at the amused cook. "Don't encourage him!"

As they exited the restaurant, Mordred released a heavy sigh. Artoria gave him an annoyed look. "Now do you regret eating lunch so quickly?"

"My mouth is on fire and the only taste left on my tongue is death," he answered bluntly "but I have no regrets."

"Well, ice cream sounds good after that experience. What do you say? My treat."

"You really expect me to say no to free ice cream? C'mon!"

It wasn't long before they found themselves happily cooling their mouths in front of the nearby ice cream shop. It was hot outside, even under the shade of the umbrella, but the ice cream helped to counterbalance that.

When Artoria finished with her ice cream, she stood up. "I'm going to go use the bathroom. Be right back."

"Alright."

Having finished his own cup of ice cream, Mordred wiped his mouth off and leaned back in his chair. Several minutes later, he saw his father returning from the bathroom at the corner of his eye. He decided to take this as an opportunity to speak his mind. He'd been waiting for the right time to open up on his feelings, and now seemed a good a time as ever. "Y'know," He started, fidgeting in his chair "it sure is nice to get to know you finally. I get that you and mother aren't on the best terms, but I still think it would've been nice if I had met you sooner. Ever since I was just a little brat, I wanted to know my father like all the other kids did. I just,"

He looked over to father, only to realize it wasn't father at all. It was some girl he didn't recognize who looked similar to father. She was wearing a sundress and had blonde hair which was much longer than Artorias. She was looking at him with a confused look on her face. "Quoi?" She asked.

"Hey, you're not father!" He exclaimed, suddenly realizing that he had been talking to a stranger. "Who the hell are you and why are you sitting in father's spot?!"

The stranger answered, "Ne comprend pas Japonais. Est-ce que tu parles Français?"

"What, do you not speak Japanese or something? I can't understand you at all!"

Nothing Mordred said seemed to help, as the girl only got more confused. "Uh…this is a pen?" She said, apparently trying to muster something in Japanese.

Artoria reappeared, then looked to the girl sitting in her seat. "Oh, who is this?"

The foreigner looked to Artoria. "Bonjour, je suis Jeanne. Est-ce que tu parles Français?"

Artoria nodded understandingly. "Ah, a foreigner. Well it so happens that I understand a little bit of French, so perhaps I can help out."

The two began talking while Mordred looked on, unable to understand a single word. Eventually the French girl bowed politely and went on her way.

Artoria sighed and sat back down in her seat. "Just a bit of confusion, nothing to worry about." She looked to Mordred. "Although, she said that you started talking about something when you mistook her for me. What did you want to say?"

Mordred had a brief moment of internal panic. "Oh! Uh…" He scratched his head, desperately trying to come up with an answer "it was nothing important. I was just…I noticed a cat walking down the street, and then I started talking about the cat I have back home."

Artoria gave him a peculiar look. "Really, is that it?"

Mordred nodded.

"Hm…I see. Well, since we both seem to be done with our ice cream, how about we head home?"

"Don't have to ask me twice," Mordred said, who was equal parts relieved and frustrated with himself. "it's hot out here! I'm ready to get inside where there's air conditioning!"

She chuckled. "Yes, I can certainly second you on that."

As they left the ice cream shop, Mordred rubbed his forehead. "Damn it, I'm such a coward!" He thought. "Why did I back down like that? Oh well, it's not like today was my only chance. I have a whole summer to open up." Mordred looked up at the blue sky above. "Yeah…all summer."


	2. Chapter 2

Artoria released a heavy sigh as she fiddled with her keys. "Such a difficult day…" She thought, unlocking the door. Walking into the house, she called out "I'm home!"

Her call was answered by Mordred's voice coming from the living room. "Welcome back!"

After she took off her shoes, Artoria headed into the living room and saw her son standing in front of the couch and drinking a glass of water.

"Why are you so sweaty?" Artoria asked, taking notice of her son's appearance and odor.

"Found out there was a gym in town." He answered. "Thought I'd do some sets down there." He flexed his left arm. "Gotta keep these guns in shape somehow!"

"Ah, well I am glad you are staying active." She began loosening her tie. "It seems most kids these days are too preoccupied by their visual novels and gacha mobile games."

"Well, those are fun too. Just need to keep things balanced, you know?"

She nodded. "I suppose. Just be sure to get your shower before dinner, okay?"

"I was gonna!" Mordred complained before heading upstairs.

Artoria sighed and checked her watch. "Speaking of dinner, I wonder what I should do…" she thought "I don't feel like cooking anything today. Perhaps I'll order a pizza instead." As she hung up her jacket, she thought "I suppose I'll wait for Mordred to come down before calling."

About 15 minutes later Mordred came down from his shower. He was now wearing cargo shorts with an Iron Maiden t-shirt. He walked in on his father, who was watching the news. Mordred went to join him and collapsed on the couch.

"Don't just fall on the couch!" She scolded. "It's hard on the material!"

"Yeah whatever…" Running a hand through his damp hair, he asked "what's for dinner?"

"Well, work was a bit hectic today so I didn't feel like cooking anything. How does pizza sound?"

"Sounds good! What kind will you get?"

"I am unsure." She got out her phone. "I am fine with most kinds of pizza except for the ones with pineapple on them. Such a thing is…unnatural."

"Hey, pineapple on pizza is actually pretty good!"

Artoria gave her son a peculiar look.

"Well, whatever." he said, not wanting to get into an argument about pineapple's validity as a pizza topping. That had happened more than once and he did not want to have a repeat of the same conversation. "Since Hawaiian is apparently off the table, how about a meat lovers?"

"That sounds fine."

Artoria placed in the order on her phone. After that, all they could do was wait. Artoria continued to watch the news, while Mordred played gacha games on his phone.

After a bit of waiting, the doorbell rang. When Artoria went to answer it, she saw that the delivery boy was Cu Chulainn.

"Cu?!" Artoria exclaimed, surprised to see the buff Irishman standing in her doorway. "I thought you were a florist, not a pizza delivery boy!"

Cu laughed. "Ah, I thought this was your address! I still work at the florist, but I'm working some extra hours. Gotta work hard for my dear wife." He shook his head, smiling. "She's good at fighting, but not much else. I need to make sure she's taken care of, ye know?"

She nodded. "Yes, I understand how things are between you and her."

"Well anyway," he handed her the box "here's yer pizza."

"And here's your pay. I have included the tip."

Running his thumb along the wad of cash, he smiled. "That'll do! Thanks for yer business!"

Closing the door as Cu left, Artoria headed into the dining room where Mordred was waiting.

As they began eating, Mordred asked. "I noticed you had a game console in your living room." He said. "Why didn't you tell me you had one?"

"Oh, that thing! Sorry but I did not think to mention it." She answered. "I only play it every now and then so I sometimes forget that it's there."

Mordred took a bite out of his pizza. "Well, how about we play a round or two after dinner?"

"That would be fine. What game do you want to play?"

"Don't know, I'd have to see what you have."

Taking a sip from her drink, Artoria asked "So, what did you do today besides work out?"

"Eh, not too much. Mostly I did some farming and texted with Fran."

"Farming?" Artoria furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean, farming?"

"Oh, right." Mordred scratched his head, remembering that his father probably wouldn't be familiar with such terms. "It's a gaming thing, don't worry about it."

"Ah, I see."

"But yeah, I've just been hanging out by myself. I guess you don't want to talk about work, huh?"

She rubbed her forehead. "No, I don't. A lot has been happening, and my coworkers have been very disorganized this week." She gestured to the table. "Anyway, we should eat before the food gets cold."

Between the two of them, they were easily able to finish off the entire box in a single sitting. After dinner Mordred wasted no time heading into the living room and foraging through the various game titles. He took notice of a particular racing game and showed it to his father. "How about a round or two of Tiger Kart?"

"Hm…alright."

He popped the disk in the console, and the game loaded on the screen. "It has been quite a while since I last played this game." Artoria said as the title screen came up. "I used to enjoy playing it with my work colleagues. I stopped after a while because they didn't seem to like playing it as much as I did."

Mordred glanced at her. "Why not? It's a fun game!"

"It is a mystery to me as well…"

After they picked their characters and vehicles, the game began. Right off the bat it was obvious that Mordred was more experienced in the game than Artoria. While Artoria often found herself falling off the cliffs and getting hit by shells, Mordred dodged every obstacle the course threw at him with ease. It seemed that not playing it in so long had caused Artoria's skills to deteriorate somewhat. Mordred played it quite often with his friends, so he knew the ins-and-outs of every single course. The rest of the game went more or less the same, with Artoria only inching up the boards with each race and Mordred getting first place every time.

After the game was over, Mordred looked to Artoria and laughed. "You're not too good at this game, are you father?"

Artoria gave him a serious look. "Let's go another round." She said, a glimmer of determination in her green eyes.

Mordred was a little surprised by her serious tone. "A sore loser huh? Alright, let's go again." He started another round as requested, picking a different cup this time.

Artoria paid very close attention to the game. Slowly beginning to recover her skills, she desperately moved all about the track and tried her best to dodge flying turtle shells and bombs. Mordred noticed her father was doing a bit better but that didn't affect his spot in first place very much.

Mordred leaned back in the couch, his arm resting on the headrest. "Ya got better, but still not good enough!"

Artoria lowered her head, her bangs obscuring her eyes. Holding tightly to her controller, she whispered "again".

Mordred looked to his father "What was that?"

She turned to her son, her expression as serious as ever. "I said again!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Damn, okay." He started up another round. "Since you don't seem to like losing very much, I'll choose Green Fields as our track since it's super flat and simple. No cliffs or nothing, just a regular race track. So whoever wins this one will be the final victor."

Artoria nodded, her eyes glimmering with the spirit of competition.

The race started and their two characters raced ahead of the CPU racers. Mordred was still able to pull ahead of his father, so he stayed pretty relaxed. When they passed by some item blocks, Artoria was able to pick up a turtle shell. She wasted no time throwing it at her son, who was defenseless since all he got was some coins. She sped past him as his kart was spun off the track.

Mordred was caught off guard by this. "Okay, not bad." He observed. "I guess you've improved a bit more than I realized." He sped forward and picked up speed boosts along the way. He was soon able to catch up with her but was hit by a bomb shortly after.

He gritted his teeth. "Heh, I guess even pros mess up sometimes…"

"Getting worried?" Artoria asked, a smug look on her face.

"Don't get too confident! I'm just having a bad run is all!" He was eventually able to catch up with her but by the time that happened it was already the end of the second lap. Now, Mordred was starting to realize that losing was a definite possibility. "Alright, no more playin' around old man! Ain't no way I'm losing!"

"I'm not that old and I refuse to lose again! I will be victorious!"

The two were tense. Even the slightest slip up could cost them dearly, and split-second decisions meant the difference between victory and defeat. In that moment familial bonds were severed for the sake of pride and glory. Turtle shells, rockets and bombs went flying all across the screen. Speed boosts would place one of them ahead, only for the other to catch back up with a speed boost of their own. The pride of both father and son were on the line; it was truly the race of the century.

They were getting close to the finishing line, the two passing each other every few seconds. They were on the final stretch. Only a few more seconds and the victor would be determined.

Then, from behind, came a rocket. Artoria and Mordred both looked on with shock, as some random CPU that got lucky with the items launched themselves to the front and blew both of them off the road. After the two had recovered from the hit all the other racers began flying past them, running into them and knocking them off the road yet again. They were eventually able to get going again but by then it was too late: they were both in last place. The sweet taste of victory became foreign to them, for all they could taste was bitter defeat and disappointment.

As the race finished, they both looked to each other. "Let's just…call it a draw?" Mordred said, unsure of what else to do.

"Uhm…" she cleared her throat "yes, a draw. That will do."

They sat there awkwardly for several minutes, neither sure what to say. They had been so caught up in the game, that they never even considered the possibility that both of them would lose.

"Well…" Artoria started "I think that's enough video games for one day." After getting swept away by her competitiveness, she was starting to cool down. "How about we find a movie to watch instead?"

"Yeah…" Mordred said, lowering his head "a movie is good."

Artoria gestured to the bookcase in the corner of the living room. "My DVDs are over there. Go pick one out."

Mordred went to look through the collection. After looking at the various plastic cases, he quickly noticed a trend.

"Why the hell do you have so many documentaries about the Middle Ages in Europe?"

"It is a fascination of mine."

Mordred continued to run his finger along the selections. "Oh, you have fantasy movies too." None of the titles jumped out to him, up until he saw a movie that he had watched before. "How about Grand Order?"

Artoria shrugged. "I suppose that's fine."

"Grand Order it is, then." Since he couldn't find anything else, he just went along with his initial choice.

As the movie began playing the mixture of tension and awkwardness between them began to fade. Aside from the occasional commentary on the movie itself, the two did not speak very much. With the sun setting outside, soon the tv was the only source of light in the room.

At the end, the credits started rolling as orchestral music played in the background. Artoria stretched "Well that was quite enjoyable." She turned to her son. "What did you think Mo," She stopped when she realized that Mordred had fallen asleep. His eyes closed, he was leaning his head back on the couch and breathing softly. "Oh" She whispered. "I guess you got tired."

She carefully stood up, trying not to make a sound. Picking up a nearby blanket, she gently placed it over Mordred's body and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Standing back, she couldn't help but smile at the exhausted boy. "How cute" she thought "he's usually so loud and energetic, but now he looks so peaceful. He can be quite a handful sometimes, but I suppose he's still my son in the end."

Her thoughts were interrupted when Mordred started snoring loudly. "Ah, I spoke too soon." Shaking her head, she turned the tv off. "Good night Mordred." She whispered, before leaving the room so that her son could rest quietly.


End file.
